More than meat? Examining cattle slaughter, feasting and deposition in later 4th millennium BC Atlantic Europe: A case study from Kilshane, Ireland

•An unusual assemblage of ∼4000 cattle remains recovered from the ditch of a later 4th millennium BC enclosure at Kilshane, Co. Dublin, in eastern Ireland.•Extensive osteological analysis identified some traditional markers of feasting activity alongside less commonly observed characteristics.•Symbolic and social roles of meat are stressed through animal selection.•A more complex multi-purpose livestock exploitation in Middle Neolithic Atlantic Europe than previously thought.